Lower Merion School Board votes to sell storied Oakwell estate it took in controversial condemnation

The Lower Merion Board of School Directors voted unanimously Monday night to authorize the sale of the former Oakwell estate to Natural Lands, a large nonprofit conservation organization.

The measure will lead to the preservation of 13 acres of land once slated to become athletic fields.

Under the deal, the 10 acres of Oakwell off County Line Road will be sold for $9.9 million and split between Natural Lands and an additional nonprofit not yet named. An adjacent three-acre property, known as Acorn Cottage off Montgomery Avenue, will be sold to Natural Lands for $2.9 million. The total sale will amount to about $12.9 million.

» READ MORE: Lower Merion schools’ condemnation of storied Main Line estate for ball fields encounters growing resistance

Natural Lands, a Media-based nonprofit conservation organization, plans to use part of the property with its neighboring Stoneleigh property, a public garden, according to the school board agenda item. The money for the purchase comes from an unnamed private donor, though Natural Lands said more funds will be needed to improve the property.

“Conservation projects like this one have many moving parts and take time and patience,” said Natural Lands president Oliver Bass. “This is just the first step, albeit an essential one.”

Bass said he was “thrilled” at being able to expand Stoneleigh.

Oakwell contains a 20,000-square-foot brick Tudor Revival manor replete with heavy wooden doors, wainscoted library, and Mercer floor tile. It contains nearly 700 trees, some of which are thought to date back centuries. Moreover, it contains a pool house, a teahouse once watched over by a terra-cotta warrior, stone fencing, and a brick-walled garden complex all dating back at least 120 years.

The estate encompasses the 1922 house and lush surrounding grounds — designed by the famed Olmsted brothers — in Villanova, carved out of the original 65-acre Stoneleigh estate. The land was originally purchased in 1877 by a Pennsylvania Railroad Co. executive, and both properties were once owned by the Bodine family, who made their fortune at the helm of the United Gas Improvement Co.

An arborist verified that the grounds contain not only hundreds of old-growth trees but 114 heritage trees, which can be notable for their uniqueness, age, size, or association with a historical event. Oakwell also drains into the watersheds for Darby, Gulph, and Mill Creeks.

In 2019, the district paid $9.9 million when it took Oakwell from its previous owner, John Bennett, through condemnation. The move resulted in outcry from Bennett, a physician and entrepreneur, and neighbors who banded together to try to preserve the estate. The district planned to use at least part of Oakwell for ball fields for nearby Black Rock Middle School, which opened in 2022.

The same year it also purchased the adjoining three-acre Acorn Cottage property, for a total real estate deal of the two properties for $12.9 million — about the amount for the deal being voted on Monday.

The district had planned to clear-cut hundreds of the trees for the athletic fields, as well as raze the wall and teahouse. It had planned to keep the manor and pool house. But it received so much pushback, even from students, that it reconsidered the plan.

Under the deal approved Monday, the district will not use any of the land for athletic fields, said Amy Buckman, a district spokesperson.

“While the need remains for additional off-site fields to accommodate all of the Black Rock Middle School teams, LMSD leadership wanted to respond to community sentiment for preservation of the site as it continues to seek other solutions,” Buckman said.

Buckman said there was “a fairly long process ahead.” In the joint statement Tuesday, the district and Natural Lands said the property being purchased by Natural Lands “would be placed under conservation easement with the Lower Merion Conservancy. The nonprofit purchasing the subdivided portion intends to enter into a mutually agreeable conservation easement agreement with Lower Merion Conservancy.”

At least one resident at Monday evening’s meeting objected to the sale, saying it will result in continued busing of students to “far away” practice fields, giving them less time for homework, dinner, and sleep.

Last year, the school district reached an agreement with Lower Merion and Haverford Townships to use a new site for middle school athletic fields, which signaled a shift away from the district’s long-contested plan to clear-cut trees from Oakwell. The school district and townships said Black Rock Middle School would instead use the nearby Bryn Mawr Polo Field for baseball and softball.

At the time, the district confirmed it was in discussions with Natural Lands, which “could result in a different field plan that might impact fewer of the natural and man-made features” at Oakwell.

Oakwell’s previous owner, Bennett, 74, now living in Florida, said he was happy Oakwell would be preserved, but faulted the district for the way it forced the sale from him. He had originally hoped to sell it to Villanova.

“They didn’t do things the right way,” Bennett said Monday. “Now that they’re trying to correct their wrongs, that makes me feel better. But they shouldn’t be able to act in that particular fashion. No public body should be able to do that.”

Word of the sale left neighbors fighting for Oakwell’s preservation ecstatic.

“Oakwell’s supporters could not have hoped for a more wonderful resolution than the transfer of this precious resource into the most responsible of hands, Natural Lands,” said Deb Robbins, who lives near Oakwell. “We are beyond grateful to the Lower Merion School Board and former Superintendent Steve Yanni for really listening. They have given a wonderful gift to our community as well as to future generations.”

Robbins said neighbors have been “chewing off our fingernails for a very long time,” as they awaited an outcome.